osj_99_25
Active member
At what age is it best to put a bull to the heifers?
Breedine Time
- Thread starter osj_99_25
- Start date
If they are really well grown out heifers 13 months if that fits in your calving season. Otherwise 15 months so they calve at 2 years. If they aren;t big enough at 15 months the go to the feedlot. Well really they go to the salebarn, if someone is dumb enough to buy them to breed that's their business.
Nesikep
Well-known member
Well, a lot goes by if they're a good size, Mine are usually close to 1000 lbs at 14 months, which is about right... I don't keep heifers that won't be close to that. If I didn't mind having drawn out calving seasons, I wouldn't mind waiting another 2-3 months, but that would just be a logistical nightmare. I think a lot of people with smaller breeds will breed when they're 800ish lbs, I think a rule of thumb is they should be 70% of their mature weight at breeding (Can someone back me up on that number, I'm iffy about it but it sounds right)
Nesikep
Well-known member
OK, I can go with that 
Putangitangi
Well-known member
Two thirds of mature weight, but the bigger the better as yearlings/15-months. My cow average weight is about 550kg/1210 lbs and the minimum mating weight I use is 320kg/700 lbs, so only 60%. They're a lot easier to manage if they're up around 66% than 60% though. But here summer time is the best feed growing time, so by the time they get in calf, they're probably pushing the right weights anyway.
Our cutoffs are 700# and 13 months old...our average is about 775-800. Our mature cows average about 1250. However, I would argue that their body condition is a much more important factor than simply weight. If they aren't at least 5's or 6's BCS, they probably won't cycle very well. Of course, if you have a longer season you can get away with a little more. We gave ours about 45 days this year.
